Bangladesh’s Election Commission (EC) says all preparations are completed for the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) elections and the national referendum, both scheduled to be held on 12 February.
Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker said the commission now has nothing left to do other than wait for voters to turn up at polling centres and exercise their democratic rights. Speaking to reporters, he said the EC was fully prepared to conduct the vote in a free, fair and peaceful manner.
He acknowledged that ballot papers had not yet reached some constituencies but assured that the distribution process was nearing completion. According to the EC, ballot papers for the JS elections and the referendum have already been delivered to 116 constituencies, while the remaining areas are expected to receive them by 7 February.
EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said some delays occurred after last-minute court orders reinstated candidates in several constituencies, making it necessary to reprint ballot papers. He described the delays as minor and said all ballots would reach their destinations well before polling day.
On security arrangements, the election commissioner said the country was witnessing the largest deployment of law enforcement personnel in its electoral history. He said such an extensive security presence had never been seen before and also added that no major incidents had been reported so far.
As part of the security plan, the army will remain deployed in the field for seven days before and after polling day, while Ansar members will be on duty for eight days. Police forces are already deployed across the country, with partial army presence in place. In addition, 1,050 executive magistrates will operate mobile courts from 8 to 14 February, while judicial magistrates will also serve during the same period.
The EC has confirmed that a total of 127,711,793 voters are registered for the JS polls and referendum. This includes 64,825,361 men, 62,885,200 women and 1,232 transgender voters. Among the constituencies, Jhalakati-1 has the lowest number of voters at 228,431, while Gazipur-2 has the highest with 843,333 voters.
A total of 2,034 candidates are contesting the elections across 300 constituencies. However, voting in Sherpur-3 has been cancelled following the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate. Fifty-one political parties are participating in the polls, with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) fielding the highest number of candidates at 288. Nine registered parties have not nominated any candidates, while more than 250 independents are also contesting.
Voting will take place at 42,779 polling stations nationwide, comprising 247,482 individual polling booths. Dhaka-12 has the highest number of candidates, with 15 contenders, while Pirojpur-1 has the lowest, with just two candidates in the race.
About 800,000 officials will be engaged in election duties, supported by around 900,000 members of law enforcement agencies. Observer participation is also expected to be significant, with 55,454 observers from 81 domestic organisations and around 500 foreign observers set to monitor the polls.
Meanwhile, the EC said 1,533,684 voters have registered for postal voting, including 772,546 expatriates and 761,138 voters residing inside the country. Of the expatriate voters, 480,416 have already cast their ballots.
